THE Wayfarers Pantomime Society is hoping for a happy ending with its latest production.

When The Brewhouse closed suddenly in 2013, the Wayfarers were owed £12,500 from ticket sales.

This was compounded by a further loss for Jack and the Beanstalk in January 2014.

Now, the talented Taunton group will present ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at The Brewhouse in January amid fears it could be their last ever show.

Treasurer Keith Smith explained: “We were lucky that the Tacchi-Morris was able to accommodate us last January but the size of the venue and the change of location after so long at The Brewhouse had a huge impact and we lost £2,500 on the show.

The Tacchi were magnificent, but the change of venue hit us hard.”

New Wayfarers’ chairman Martin Howe explained the group now only had enough reserves to stage January’s production.

“While we are an amateur society, we put on a professional style performance and these things are not cheap to do.

“Beauty and the Beast will be a wonderful show but the final costs for it will be around £41,000.

“Our problem is that we have to pay out so much before we receive the income from ticket sales, which uses up every penny we now have, meaning that if we make a loss on this year’s show then we will not have the funds to meet the advanced costs next year.”

The Wayfarers have attracted a number of sponsors including Somerset County Sports and Genius PR, with the main sponsor being King’s Hall School.

“We are so grateful to all the companies that sponsor us with either money or services as without their support we could not put the show on,” added Keith. 

BEAUTY and the Beast is being staged at the Brewhouse from January 11 to 17.

Tickets are available from The Brewhouse box office or from the website – www.thebrewhouse.net